VELAR APPROXIMANT

The 'velar approximant' is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is M.
The IPA symbol , sometimes with a lowering diacritic, is also used for the velar approximant.

Contents

Features

Occurrence

See also

Features

Features of the velar approximant:

★ Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.

★ Its place of articulation is velar which means it is articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the velum).

★ Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.

★ It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.

★ It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.

★ The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Cherokee		'Ꮹ'Ꮵ/'''w'a-tsi''		'watch'	also represented by , , , , and
Irish		''naoi''		'nine'	Occurs only between broad consonants and front vowels. See Irish phonology
Japanese		私/'''w'atashi''		'I'	Pronounced with lip compression. See Japanese phonology
Korean		의자/'''u'ija''		'chair'	Occurs only before
Spanish		''pa'g'ar''		'to pay'	Intervocalic allophone of . See Spanish phonology

See also

★ List of phonetics topics